Hitachi Wins Award for Hybrid Cloud Solutions Portfolio

We’re happy to announce that Hitachi Data Systems is the latest recipient of the 2017 Stratus Award for our private and hybrid cloud solutions framework. We call this framework the Hitachi Enterprise Cloud (HEC). It includes a range of cloud solutions that provide a public cloud experience inside the firewall of your operation. Ultimately, it’s our customers that are winning, standing up a private/hybrid cloud in as little as 60 days.

Consider for a moment why we built this solution and why is it relevant beyond just Hitachi? We built HEC because our customers were facing challenges in implementing private clouds with a hybrid capability. They were not alone, according to Gartner in 2015, up to 95% of users were facing the same challenges. This is important beyond Hitachi because it’s a proof point that private and hybrid cloud solutions are achieving parity with public cloud modalities. In fact, for some use cases like long term production environments, going private/hybrid is the clear winner from a total cost of ownership (TCO) perspective.

So, what is new here? Why is our HEC solution a serious challenge to the perception that the public is cheaper and more flexible? Here are some key points to consider:

Dedicated Infrastructure: perhaps the biggest reason private cloud modalities have been more expensive is the CapEx required for the iron. We’ve removed that barrier, now providing a true pay as you grow model for compute. This is very similar to a virtual private cloud.

Self-service portals: users want VM’s and templated workflows fast and are willing to go and provision them on their own these days…give the people what they want!

Technology and operational support: setting up the infrastructure and software for a private cloud is only half the challenge. Understanding how to transform your operations is just as important. We provide both technical and operational support as part of our HEC professional services portfolio.

Hybrid, hybrid, hybrid: when you really unpack the many, many points of view on public versus private cloud modalities…it is clear that a hybrid capability provides the best of both worlds by enabling workload mobility.

That last point is key, a solution that enables workload mobility options should be a guiding principle for anything related to your cloud strategy. Cloud solutions like HEC are changing the definition of what hybrid cloud is; moving from a tightly coupled on premise infrastructure pool with bursting out to the public cloud to a more dynamic mix or IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. A great, detailed post on this transformation here.

Finally, let’s consider the business outcomes of this hybrid cloud solution from Hitachi. Here is what you can expect by implementing this solution:

Clarity: implementing a best in class hybrid cloud solution provides a clear proof point that your cloud strategy is being implemented in support of the business.

Flexibility: for both your IT administrators and consumers of compute and storage resources. The pool of consumers can also be expanded to now start including DevOps functions.

Reduced costs: a solution like this provides an OpEx option versus a large CapEx. This will provide clear TCO reductions.

More time to focus on innovation: the time required to provision resources as well as the automation of repetitive tasks (workflows) reduces the time spent on administrative minutia.